History

Shama ( ur, , Śamā, Candle) was started in September 1939 by Delhi-based businessman Yusuf Dehlvi. It was initially sold for two

annas Annas (also Ananus or Ananias;Goodman, Martin, "Rome & Jerusalem", Penguin Books, p.12 (2007) , ; grc-x-koine, Ἅννας, ; 23/22 BC – death date unknown, probably around AD 40) was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High ...

per copy. Following the format of some other Urdu film magazines like ''Chitra'', Shama's content was a combination of film and literary writing which was partly the reason for its wide circulation. The magazine wasn't an instant success but Dehlvi managed to sustain it even in tumultuous times, and the magazine eventually became a credible name. The

partition of British India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

brought many Urdu readers to India which gave a boost to the magazine's readership. Dehlvi was joined by his three sons Idrees, Ilyas and Yunus when the magazine started to hit the jackpot.

Popularity

Shama became the first Urdu magazine to reach a circulation of one lakh copies a month and special flights were booked for transporting the magazine overseas. It featured popular Urdu writers and poets like Arzoo Lakhnavi,

Firaq Gorakhpuri Raghupati Sahay (28 August 1896 – 3 March 1982), also known by his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, was an Indian writer, critic, and, according to one commentator, one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets from India. He established himself ...

Ismat Chughtai Ismat Chughtai (21 August 1915 – 24 October 1991) was an Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker. Beginning in the 1930s, she wrote extensively on themes including female sexuality and femininity, middle-class ...

Krishan Chander Krishan Chander (23 November 1914 – 8 March 1977) was an Indian Urdu and Hindi writer of short stories and novels. Some of his works have also been translated in English. He was a prolific writer, penning over 20 novels, 30 collections o ...

, Jigar Moradabadi and regularly featured columns by those associated with the film industry. Actor Sanjay Dutt's name was chosen by crowdsourcing through Shama and it was reported by the magazine that

Nargis Nargis Dutt (born Fatima Rashid; 1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981) was an Indian actress and politician who worked in Hindi cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she made her screen debut in a minor role ...

would send an autographed picture and a personal letter to the person who had suggested the name. After the death of actress

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as ''The Tragedy Queen'', she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of ...

, Nargis wrote a personal essay in Shama in June 1972. The magazine carried condolence messages from President

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and Prime Minister

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

upon the death of founder Yusuf Dehlvi in 1985. In a 1985 issue, actor

Dharmendra Dharam Singh Deol (born 8 December 1935), also known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer and politician who is known for his work in Hindi films. Known as the first " He-Man" of Bollywood, Dharmendra has worked in over 301 ...

wrote that his desire to get into films was aroused by Shama. A popular feature of the magazine was its literary crosswords called 'Adabi Muamma' which carried attractive prizes worth lakhs of rupees. The magazine carried a column 'Sitaaron Ki Duniya' (World of the stars) written by Idrees Dehlvi under the pseudonym 'Musafir', which gave access to the lives of actors and filmmaking, but avoided salacious content. Cover of a 1970 issue of Khilauna Magazine from the Shama Group

Cover of a 1970 issue of Khilauna Magazine from the Shama Group

Spin-off publications

Following the success of ''Shama'', in the early 1950s, Yusuf Dehlvi acquired ''Bano'' and used the Shama name to leverage it into India’s premiere women’s magazine. Bano contained content similar to the nineteenth century magazines, a mixture of practical knowledge and literature, but without Shama’s film focus and the risqué image. At around the same time, the children’s magazine ''Khilauna'' (meaning Toy) was launched. Unlike the moralistic children’s magazines from the nineteenth century, Khilauna treated its young readers as friends, and the magazine was meant to be played with, not merely read. It published fiction and informational articles drawn from cosmopolitan sources, as well as baby pictures submitted by readers. Barely out of college, Khilauna editor Yusuf’s youngest son, Ilyas Dehlvi, enlisted highly reputed writers like Ḳhvajah Aḥmad Abbas, Krishan Chandar and Rajindar Singh Bedī to contribute children’s stories. Khilauna also contained illustrated serialized comic strips which contained some of India’s first homegrown fantasy and science fiction for children. As Urdu readership slowly declined through the 1960s, the Dehlvis launched a Hindi version of Shama, called ''Sushama'' (meaning Splendour). The name was chosen because of the phonemic similarity with the name of the parent magazine. An Urdu-language crime/spy magazine 'Mujrim' was also launched along with its Hindi-language counterpart 'Doshi.' During the 80s, Ilyas Dehlvi, on observing his daughter Rasia Dehlvi's interest in fashion and the art of embroidery, launched ''Rasia Kashidakari'', another successful venture deviating from Shama's literary and film focus. Several magazines were patterned after successful American magazines, including A'inah (meaning Mirror) and Shabistan (meaning Bedroom). The Shama Mansion, the iconic private residence of the Dehlvi family, in its glory in Delhi's diplomatic enclave

The Shama Mansion, the iconic private residence of the Dehlvi family, in its glory in Delhi's diplomatic enclave

Shama-Sushama Film Awards

Owing to Shama's increasingly close association with the Hindi and Urdu Film fraternity, the Dehlvis hosted the ''Shama-Sushama Film Awards'', one of the most awaited and talked-about annual events in the country at the time. The annual award function saw some of the biggest film, literary, political and business personalities in attendance. The event was traditionally held at the

Ashok Hotel The Ashok Hotel is a five-star deluxe resort in the 50, Niti Marg, Diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. This hotel is part of Ashok Group, owned by the India Tourism Development Corporation. Description The hotel has 550 guest rooms ...

situated about next-door to the ''Shama Mansion'', the iconic residence of the Dehlvis in

Lutyens' Delhi Lutyens' Delhi is an area in New Delhi, India, named after the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), who was responsible for much of the architectural design and building during the period of the British Raj, when India was part o ...

. The first ceremony happened on 11 March 1973.

References

External links

Archived collection at Rekhta

Archived collection at British Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shama Celebrity magazines Defunct magazines published in India Literary magazines published in India Magazines established in 1939 Magazines disestablished in 1999 Monthly magazines published in India Urdu-language magazines Defunct literary magazines Film magazines published in India